E-Paper
Mohali MC writes to Punjab govt to resume legacy waste processing
Bioremediation of Mohali’s daily garbage, apart from the legacy waste collected at the 10-acre landfill for the past 15 years, was stalled in January this year after expiry of the previous contract
The Mohali municipal corporation has written to the Punjab local government department, seeking approval to finalise the contract for bioremediation of the 2.79 lakh cubic metres waste still dumped in Phase 8-B, Industrial Area.
Bioremediation of city’s daily garbage, apart from the legacy waste collected at the 10-acre landfill for the past 15 years, was stalled in January this year after expiry of the previous contract.
Mohali generates 100 metric tonnes (MT) of waste daily, including 40 MT wet and 60 MT mixed waste. In absence of bioremediation for nearly a year, the daily waste is getting dumped at the landfill without processing.
If the contract is approved by the department, legacy garbage processing is likely to resume in the next few months, as per MC officials.
MC failed to renew contract twice already
Since the bioremediation contract’s expiry in January, MC has failed to finalise the new contract twice.
The previous contract was allotted to Ecostan Infra Pvt Ltd in 2021, following which 2.37 lakh cubic metre waste was processed till January 2023.
After expiry of this contract, a tender was called on May 25, 2023. But since only one company participated in the process, tender was recalled for the second time on June 21, following which three firms submitted their bid.
Out of those three firms, two firms though qualified technical bids, but they quoted higher prices, following which the tender was called for the third time on August 14, 2023.
After two firms couldn’t provide the required documents, they were disqualified in the technical bid, and only Sure Trade Research Pvt Ltd qualified the technical bid.
While MC opened the tender for ₹4.24 crore, the aforesaid firm submitted a higher, but closest bid. Following this, the file for final vetting and approval has now been sent to chief engineer (CE), Punjab local government department.
A report, justifying why the tender should be allotted to Sure Trade Research Pvt Ltd, has also been sent with the file.
“We are working hard to get the processing of legacy waste resumed soon and will allot the work tender once approved by the department, as legacy waste is a major challenge for us,” a senior MC officer said.
How does bioremediation help
Through bioremediation, the legacy waste is turned into bio-soil, compost, refused derived fuel (RDF) and construction and demolition (C&D) waste.
While the bio-soil is used to elevate the low-lying areas under MC’s jurisdiction, the compost is used in parks. The RDF/plastic waste generated after processing legacy waste is supplied to private firms to be used as fuel in energy plants.
The C&D waste is sent to MC’s plant in Sector 57, where kerb channels are prepared for construction of footpaths.
The legacy waste at the Phase 8-B dumping site is processed using two trammel machines that can process 30 tonnes of garbage every hour.
According to a senior MC official, while dry waste, including plastic items, is recycled, the wet waste is turned into compost. There are 14 resource management centres across the city where the waste is segregated for processing, following which the garbage is moved to the Phase 8-B dumping site for processing.
